{"id":317525,"date":"2024-08-21T12:20:21","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T17:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=317525"},"modified":"2024-08-21T09:37:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T14:37:32","slug":"lawsuit-teen-down-syndrome-beaten-cage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/lawsuit-teen-down-syndrome-beaten-cage\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit: Teen with Down syndrome was beaten, deprived of food, and locked in a cage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Parents are suing school officials in Kansas, claiming that their teenage son with Down syndrome was tortured and abused by one of his educators, while others knew and did nothing about it.<\/p>\n

Albert Bahret was assigned to the 15-year-old boy as a paraprofessional, according to the Daily Mail<\/a>. In a lawsuit filed by the boy’s parents, Heather and Jeff Bahner, Bahret repeatedly yelled in their son’s face, struck him, choked him with his shirt collar, and more. Also named in the lawsuit<\/a> were Taylor Hurla, a special education teacher, and Sarah Sanders, director of the district\u2019s special education services program. The abuse took place in the Kaw Valley Unified School District<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that Bahret at times forced the boy, identified only as C.B., into a dark utility closet, which Bahret called the “seclusion closet,” and repeatedly hit him in the face and neck. A photo also leaked of C.B. locked in a cage with athletic equipment, to which Bahret didn’t have the key.<\/p>\n

Bahret was also said to disappear for “great lengths of time to unknown locations and for unknown reasons,” and during those periods, C.B. would be left in soiled clothes, and was denied food. Sanders and Hurla allegedly knew about Bahret’s behavior, and “actively participated in defendants’ campaign to hide the unlawful conduct.”<\/p>\n

Bahret also is said to have compared C.B. to an animal.<\/p>\n